


Sunny Side Up

by Ludella



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Egg Laying, M/M, Mpreg, if dragons and magic can exist then male dragons can give birth, you read that right
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 22:47:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6169666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ludella/pseuds/Ludella
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Both families are at a loss when Corrin is unable to revert to human form--for two months. It's only natural that his husband Niles is the most panicked, seeing the obvious lack of dragon doctors in all the realm.</p><p>The real reason for his illness is a little more eggciting than anyone could eggspect, leaving Niles with a bit of shell shock.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunny Side Up

**Author's Note:**

> yea you bet yea you fucking right fuck this heteronormative only straights can have kids you fucking bet this dragons gonna get him some babies it's 2016 send support on twitter #gaydragoneggs gofundme kickstarter petition

Dragon doctors weren’t a thing that were so easy to come by. Within Nohr (or Hoshido for that matter), manaketes weren’t particularly common. They tended to keep themselves hidden, living in mountains alone and keeping up the traditions of whatever civilization the lay people were still unaware of. Corrin couldn’t remember ever meeting another with powers like his, only able to learn about himself through highly protected training and conversation with other shapeshifters. Flannel was able to sympathize with the act of transforming itself, but wolfskins and dragons were miles apart in difference.

Thus whenever anything went wrong, there wasn’t a soul in sight who knew what to do.

“Has there been any progress?” Xander asked while walking into the modified barn stall, fitted with furniture and secured for comfort. His eyes narrowed in disappointment seeing his little brother still transformed as a dragon, husband in the middle of petting his head.

Niles turned to face their guest with his face set in a deep frown. Xander hadn’t seen him smile since complications came up. “A couple doctors came by earlier with nothing else. He only seems to be in more discomfort than ever.”

“I… see.”

Prior to their marriage, Xander never had much reason to interact with one of his brother’s subordinates. He watched him closely from the side to make sure he was within conduct and worthy of serving Leo, but never anything more. Having to speak with him one on one--about one who was so incredibly precious to them both--was new, and not particularly… easy.

Niles returned his attention to the dragon laying on a bed of hay behind him when Xander didn’t offer and further communication. Being neither a healer nor an expert on dragons, all he could do was offer comfort to his husband who was currently asleep. Even if he were awake he wouldn’t be able to do more than listen to them; ever since it had begun, he became unable to speak as well, reduced to low growls and roars like any other wild dragon.

A month ago, the army had taken to battle just as scheduled without any particular surprises. Nothing had gone wrong. Nothing was out of order. They even defeated the opposing third force, and yet, afterwards, the young prince became strangely unable to revert back to his human form. Only Niles had been at his side the entire time, and reported nothing out of the ordinary during the battles.

The most they could think of was a curse or hex of some kind, but a thorough inspection by both Elise, Leo, and Odin could find nothing of the sort. He had no external injuries, and from the time he could still speak, expressed nothing besides a growing pain in both his head and abdomen. It wasn’t much help, seeing as not even Corrin was well versed in his own anatomy without any proper education. 

“Inform me if anything changes. The entire palace is greatly concerned,” Xander finished after a few minutes of silence, not even waiting for an answer from the thief before turning on heel and marching out with his hands behind his back.

“As if I wouldn’t have…” Niles mumbled, despite knowing no one was listening. 

Corrin began to stir in his sleep then, adjusting his position to lay on one side with all four legs extended. He gave a few puffs of breath and nuzzled the hay beneath his head comfortably before stilling once again. Though endeared by his husband all the same, Niles’s smile was a sad one, and he moved close enough to lift Corrin’s heavy head and situate it on his crossed thighs in a makeshift pillow. Mindful of his horns, Niles continued to softly run his fingers over Corrin’s snout.

He let out a sigh of his own.

* * *

 

It wasn’t unusual for it to storm on the day of an assault, but it didn’t make things any easier. Thankfully Corrin’s dragon feet, posed more like clawed hands were able to make better use of the terrain than any soldier wearing slick boots. And speed was what he needed most right now. On his back (a special seat no one was allowed), Niles kept his head ducked low to avoid an onslaught of arrows from the enemy.

“Hold on,” Niles heard Corrin’s muffled voice, coming from his core rather than the dragon’s mouth, “this is going to be a rough patch.” 

True to his word, Niles was unable to see the small drop coming ahead yet held tighter to the plates on Corrin’s neck. Corrin took a leap down and between a few fallen pieces of rubble. It appeared to be the remains of some home or storage area of the village they were in, thankfully evacuated with the help of intel on the enemy’s movements. 

“Nasty little puppets, aren’t they…” Niles managed to choke out as Corrin finally settled, allowing the archer to ease off his perch before he could make another joke about needing a saddle. He winced as he fell back on his feet, immediately falling over as the fresh wound in his foot became aggravated at the movement. “So brainwashed they can’t take the time to train their own soldiers.”

“But they hit you.”

Niles winked playfully. “They were aiming for my  _ head _ .”

Corrin didn’t seem any more comforted by his answer, replying with a curt puff of breath from his snout. Fearing for the worst if Niles became unable to run, Corrin had taken it upon himself to immediately scoop his lover up and take him to some means of shelter he could at least bandage himself up and get walking before returning to the field.

They had been fighting for a while already, and god only knew when it'd finish. After being in war for so long, it was easy to spot which battles would take longer to finish, or at least get out of. Not to mention it was still pouring rain outside, and Niles was in no hurry to soak himself even more.

He wrung out the end of his cloak, water splashing onto the wet ground as he watched Corrin from the corner of his eye. Still in his dragon form, Corrin eventually settled with laying on the ground to watch as Niles sat and began fixing himself up. He thankfully had enough bandage and salves in his pack to fix up a small wound (he had more medical supplies in his kit now than ever before after marrying Corrin). It was thankfully not that drastic, no broken bones to worry about.

“Is it bad?” Corrin asked, unable to get a good look from how Niles was crouched down. “If it’s going to take long, I can revert to my human form and he--”

“No, no, it’s not that bad,” Niles waved his hand dismissively. “That dragonstone of yours is about to run out, isn’t it?”

“I don’t have to be a dragon to fight, Niles.”

He took a moment to respond, concentration on wrapping the wound in his foot as tightly as he could. “But I feel more comfortable when you are. Don’t have to worry about you gettin’ hurt as bad.”

Even with his voice muffled by his dragon form, Corrin’s small laugh made Niles’s stomach twist just slightly. God, he was really in for it, wasn’t he…

“Once you’re finished, we should head back out--”

“Hey, Corrin?”

Cut off, Corrin crooked his head to the side, unable to show any expression on his face to indicate being irritated if he was. Niles was finally standing after tucking his foot back into a boot and testing out walking over to the sitting dragon.

“We’ve got a little bit of time, right…?”

“If… you need it?”

The grin that spread on Niles’s face as he approached was enough to convince Corrin they’d be here a little longer than a few minutes.

* * *

 

They’d messed around a bit with Corrin’s dragon form then returned to battle, just as usual, and nothing seemed wrong. He didn’t find anything unusual on his form in the shelter, and when they were back on the field, Corrin was fighting just as normal as before. The only thing he could think of was how much longer Corrin spent in his dragon form, what with them having the chase the enemy forces to a hideout and continue battle there.

That being said, Niles didn’t particularly keep track of how long Corrin remained in his dragon form each battle, but recognized it was longer than usual that time. As much as he hated it, all he could think about was Corrin’s first explanation of what it meant to be a dragon now, and the purpose of that stone to contain his power. He had said it was to keep the beast from taking over fully, and now… 

He didn’t want to even consider it. Niles leaned back against his husband’s large sleeping form, becoming comfortable against the warmth of his scales. After the battle had ended, Corrin had collapsed, not even returning to his human form while unconscious. When he awoke, he was completely unable to speak at all.

Whatever was going on, he didn’t like it. And with how Corrin seemed to be increasingly uncomfortable… Niles became more conflicted on staying by his husband’s side versus doing anything he could to find answers.

* * *

 

Weeks passed with little news despite large amounts of action. Both royal families, together in their fight against a third force, put together all their efforts to find any reason behind what could be happening to their young prince to no avail. It’d caused for great chaos between the families, resulting in many fights as well as an equal amount of bonding over a similar cause.

Whatever happened between both sides mattered little to Niles.

What was important was the fact his husband was still a beast, unable to communicate, and appearing to be in increased pain each day. 

He seldom left his side in the stables, their room becoming more and more decorated for their comfort each day until it was suited for man as much as beast. Servants brought his meals along with feed for Corrin--which seemed to be the only thing he responded to besides Niles’s comfort. Even in his current state of pain and immobility, he ate just about anything given to him. At the beginning, Niles thought he was sick because of this, eating as if the dragon had been starved for months. There was never a low supply of food in the stables because of it, and Niles made sure Corrin received anything he signalled a need for.

Which is why he left his side for just a few minutes to retrieve a blanket from the castle when he saw Corrin shivering. Dragons were extremely warm creatures, much hotter than any person Niles had ever come in contact was, so seeing he was cold caused him to panic. He’d taken the largest comforts from storage without any concern for whose they might be or whether or not they had been cleaned recently.

He folded the blanket as much as he could to carry it before deciding to take another. And another. Soon enough, Niles was balancing five large covers folded sloppily in his hold, towering over his face and making it difficult to see around. What was the appropriate number of blankets it’d take to warm up a dragon? Should he have contacted a mage to have them start a fire instead? It’d probably be dangerous, seeing they were still settled in the stables with other animals. 

The sound of a door being kicked open was enough to tear him from his train of thoughts.

“Medic!” he heard Jakob yelling, followed by panicked footsteps in his direction. “We need a medic to the stables, immediately! Something has happened to Prince Corrin!”

The blankets were long forgotten on the floor of the hall.

A few others besides both royal families tagged along on the race back to the stables, Niles leading the way not due to speed as much an ability to shove others out of the way. In part, he felt almost as if he was responsible for whatever turn Corrin’s health had taken, seeing as he had left him for any time at all. How stupid was he, leaving him alone for even a minute in this condition? If anything happened, he was entirely to blame. If the families didn’t punish him, he would himself.

“Corrin! What’s wrong!?” Niles shouted as soon as he was in the stables, knowing the other couldn’t answer. When he entered their makeshift room, he found his husband still in his dragon form laying on his stomach but stretched out, head ducked low. A low, guttural growl sounded more like a groan of pain, and with every small movement the dragon pain came a small huff or snarl of discomfort.

Niles perched his hands over Corrin’s body, unsure of whether or not he could even touch him. If he would hurt him.

A pain twisted in his chest he hadn’t known before.

“Corrin… what do I do?”

Azura pushed through the families crowded outside the door, none of them knowing what to do in particular. She was the only one willing to sit at Niles’s side, gently laying her hands over Corrin’s head and neck to examine him. Niles leaned back to let her look at him, assuming she knew more about dragons than he did, although no one present were particularly experts.

“I’ve never heard of anything like this,” she said quietly, running her hands over the dragon’s back and stomach. As soon as she did, her eyes widened. “It… couldn’t be that--”

Corrin let out a pained roar, cutting the woman off. Thinking she had hurt him in anyway, Niles reflexively pushed her aside and took her place in front of the dragon. “Corrin! What’s wrong?! What’s going on?!”

“It’s not like he can  _ say  _ anything.” Takumi clicked his tongue only to be elbowed by Leo moments after. 

Elise and Sakura pushed their way between the bickering princes with the previously forgotten blankets in their arms. “Niles! We saw you carrying these and brought them!” Elise held hers out to the archer while Sakura unfolded hers carefully to lay over him.

The Hoshidan princess took great care in draping the blanket over the dragon’s midsection. “It might calm him down.”

He could vaguely hear Ryoma and Xander discussing something with Azura, though he wasn’t listening to exactly what they were saying until he could understand them ushering the two young princesses back to their respective rooms. At least Corrin wasn’t shivering anymore under a large number of blankets, though he continued making pained noises and shaking his head about uncomfortably.

After half an hour, it became apparent this wasn’t going to pass as easily. Ryoma and Xander eventually left to seek out help, leaving Hinoka and Camilla with Niles to watch after Corrin. On their way out, Takumi and Leo got into an argument on the cause of Corrin’s illness and Niles could only assume they left to figure it out for themselves.

It all mattered very little to him.

For the most part, Hinoka and Camilla let him be without interruption. He was able to adjust himself to sit with Corrin’s head propped up on his lap, wary of his horns while he pet his head soothingly. Now was an awful time for nobody in either kingdom to have any education on dragons, and those who did were of very little help. Corrin was different from regular manaketes or wyverns--he was part of an entirely different species no one could explain. And because of that, nobody could help.

“How is he doing?” Niles didn’t have to look up to know Azura had returned from the sound of her voice. Hinoka and Camilla both stood up to greet her, as if knowing that Niles had little to say unless addressed specifically. Corrin gave another grunt of discomfort before nuzzling at Niles’s abdomen, making him smile before his face fell. Azura crouched in front of him.

“Niles, I think we may have figured out what’s happening to Corrin. However, you may… not be fond of the results.” Azura reached a hand out to pet the side of Corrin’s neck gently atop the covers, though the action infuriated Niles with the contradiction in her words.

“What do you mean?” he snarled, hands balling into fists. “How can you say that so calmly--what’s wrong with him?”

“He’s not in any immediate danger, calm down and list--"

“ _ Calm _ ! He’s been like this for months and you--”

Hinoka’s gasp cut the two of them off. “There’s something moving beneath the blankets!”

The next few minutes went by in a flash, confusing Niles as they were suddenly crowded by the two princesses and the other members of royalty who had been waiting close by. As everyone lifted the blankets up and off of their brother, panicked voices sounded throughout the room in phrases he couldn’t comprehend (“Is this possible?” “It’s so close!” “I think I’m going to be sick…”). It wasn’t as if he could toss Corrin off of his lap and move to see what they were all examining, and without anyone answering his questions, he was left in the dark.

Another pained snarl from Corrin against his stomach got his attention again, focusing back on what was the most important here.

“It’s okay, my love, everything will be alright,” Niles tried to soothe gently. In all honesty, he was trying to convince himself more than anyone.

“It’s almost here!” Ryoma, suddenly in the crowd as well called out, causing the rest of the group to whisper amongst themselves in what he couldn’t differentiate between excitement and horror. His attention was more on the dragon in his hold, breathing heavily and leaning on him for support.

“I’m here, Corrin. I’m not going to leave your side… I’ve got you.”

“Come on, Corrin, keep it up…” he could hear Xander encourage him. Exactly what was going on back there…?

Finally, Azura began to push the families aside to give the dragon more room. “One more good one should be enough.”

Niles finally looked up, squinting at her face for an answer. “One more  _ what _ \-- ”

“That’s it!”

The entire room practically erupted.

“Oh, my god…”

“This is beautiful!”

“It’s a miracle!”

“It’s  _ something… _ ”

At this point, Niles was just a little more than furious. Both families surrounded his husband, almost as if they were leaving him out deliberately while cheering and cooing over  _ something _ . At least Corrin wasn’t struggling as much anymore, now just breathing as if he had run a marathon. He continued to pet his head. “What exactly is  _ going on _ back there?”

As if only just acknowledging Niles was in the room, the herd began to pull back, giving him knowing smiles that just made him even angrier. This was his husband they were talking around, so why should he be the last to know? He who had been with him every minute for the past two months--

“Congratulations are in order, Niles,” Leo started, standing in front of his retainer almost smugly. 

“What?”

Azura made a huff of effort as she gathered the blankets that were previously thrown off around the area in front of her. With an almost rare smile, she lifted something heavy in her hands to show Niles.

“Congratulations, Niles,” she began, all faces in the room grinning as his eyes widened. In her lap… in her lap, it really was--

An egg.

A giant egg.

“You’re a father.”

**Author's Note:**

> follow my writing twitter @lesbidella tho i havent used it  
> my main @labsafetyslut


End file.
